New iPad Lacks Several Display Features of iPad Air

[SantaFeNM]

I have an older relative on a tight budget who has desperately been in need of replacing her older iPad. I've been telling her for a couple of months to hold-off on buying a replacement, since this October release was expected.

I was hoping this 10th gen iPad would be the same price-point as the 9th gen. Like many her age, she has not moved to bluetooth headphones and is fine with wired buds. I figured I could talk her into springing for 2nd gen AirPods, when they are on sale for $99, if the 10th gen removed the headphone jack.

Welp, no. The price increase and loss of the headphone jack make it prohibitively expensive for her, on what used to be the low cost, entry-level iPad. She'll be going with the 9th gen iPad which has been on sale at Amazon for $269 and she won't have the headphone issue. Only Apple knows if their margins are better in losing out on a customer buying the 10th gen (at a lower price point) and AirPods together, over someone just picking up the discounted 9th gen, but that's the scenario they created in this case.

On another note with the price increase, I think the 10th gen should have started with 128Gb of storage. 🤷‍♂️

 

[compwiz1202]

This iPad is not appealing at all. Makes no sense why Apple is going backward with the iPad line up.

Seems to be the norm lately to offer less expensive offerings that are garbage, just so they can say they offered it. And then they cry sales were less than expected

 

[CarAnalogy]

True, I guess I'm assuming that these devices will probably rarely leave the home, so screen glare won't be too much of an issue.

Maybe I don't feel that this will much of a problem, as I live in the UK, which often looks like Mordor on a good day.

California residents etc. may have a different experience!

Many will likely be used in schools and offices under bright fluorescent lighting.

 

[kp98077]

This iPad is not appealing at all. Makes no sense why Apple is going backward with the iPad line up.

Do you use iPads? I don’t …

 

[JtheLemur]

They almost got me with that yellow color. Then I saw the config I wanted would be like $750 USD. Then I find out about the lack of laminated display? Really? That's insane for the end of 2022. This is not some fancy new tech, it is effectively table stakes for any modern device with a screen. F*** this. The colors are the only thing going for this line, which is tragic because they really do look damn good. I hope they do something similar with any coming iPad Mini updates. -__-

 

[KPOM]

If you believe that this iPad is largely intended for the education market, it makes sense that it cuts cost wherever possible—the cheaper display and the lack of Pencil 2 wireless charging support (yes, it has a price hike, but that’s another can of worms). Also the new landscape camera only being on this iPad makes me think it, being used for education, is used more for video calls than other iPads. Not to say it won’t come to other iPads, but it was possibly more urgent for this one.

Education is a key market for the "base" iPad, but I'm surprised that Apple didn't release a cheaper keyboard option. It's $700 with the keyboard.

 

[KPOM]

I think we are now seeing the product of what work from home has done to apple hardware, software, and marketing m/sales.. some head scratching on some of the execution as of late

Maybe that's why Apple wants people back in the office.

 

[KPOM]

Not having a laminated display is a massive step backwards. Before Apple stated laminated them I had nothing but issues where specs of dust would find its way in under the glass. Laminating then fixed that issue immediately and that’s never been a problem since.

Between this and the 1st Gen pencil just WTF are you doing Apple?

Tim need get his act together or stand down. Far too many iPhone choices, far too many iPad choices. New iPhones still use lightning while the new Apple TV remote does USB-C, first gen pencil is horrific and shouldn’t have even been a decision to use.

Apple just doesn’t seem to know what it’s doing lately.

How is it a step backwards? The 9th generation does not have a laminated display, either.

 

[mansplains]

A room full of iPads all playing their lessons would drive me nuts. Corded buds are less expensive so removing the jack would likely remove that model iPad from schools lists of approved equipment.

It depends on the class to me. I put learning in quotes because it seems iPads are becoming the teachers, and teachers are only proctors anymore. Optimally your teacher would be the one teaching you how to pronounce the new Spanish vocabulary, not some recording on an iPad. It's not as drastic as I'm implying here, but classrooms seem to be moving in this direction to me. Works for some students, not everyone unfortunately. It's great for school management with oversize classrooms, just buy a bunch of iPads (or require the student to) instead of hiring more teachers. I consider myself lucky to have had the opportunity to do most of my schooling in smaller classes with caring teachers instead of being put in front of the TV, so to speak.

 

[snipr125]

This would have been an excellent iPad for the masses if it was priced to replace the iPad 9 at the same price point, maybe max £350. But with the ridiculous Pencil 1 dongle charging nonsense and the £499 price, Apple basically ruined it on arrival. Still if you can get one £100 off with third party retailers, it’s not bad at all.

 

[QCassidy352]

Sucks, but screen tech, pencil 2, and M1 are the only differentiators for the air. If they didn’t use the older screen, they’d be charging a 33% price hike for the M1 as opposed to the A14.

 

[RevTEG]

I like the design and the removal of the home button.
I dislike the lack of stereo speakers and the price.

And why the hell it just doesn’t support Pencil 1 AND 2.

Personally the Pencil 1 support is welcome for me because I just bought one this year for my 2018 iPad on promotion.

But don’t make such a mess of the lineup.
Shouldn’t be so difficult:

Normal use : ipad
Smal form factor : mini / air
“Pro” use: the pro line

Support all pencils, if not for costumer care, do it for the environment.

Anyway, the battery on my 2018 iPad is still going good. I start to notice some hiccups with apps here and there.

When I need to upgrade to a newer model because of iPadOS updates and/or it becomes more sluggish to use in the future I will go for the 2021 model, as much as I hate the home button, the price of the new model is not even funny anymore.

Where would Apple put the magnetic wireless charging for the Apple Pencil 2 on the 10th gen ipad? I’d be willing to bet that’s the main issue between the pro models not getting the camera location moved (yet) and the 10th gen iPad not supporting Apple Pencil 2. Can the magnetic charging components fit above the relocated camera? That may have required another year of R&D.

 

[Sir_Macs_A_Lot]

This product should not exist.
iPad mini / iPad Air / iPad Pro should be the line up.

And, my take on it lacking 2nd generation pencil support:

That is obviously a mistake. That dongle is a last minute fix.

Of course Apple would’ve wanted the 2nd generation pencil to work, but they couldn’t figure it out with the new landscape camera.

Tim just didn’t have the courage to postpone the release date until the designers figured it out. So they came up with this stupid excuse of a dongle.

But, mark my words: this solution was not intended from the beginning.

Let’s wait to see what strange holes iFixit will find. I’m sure we’ll see evidence of Apple Pencil 2 charging / magnets. Cancelled at the last moment because it messed with the camera.

The lineup should remain: iPad mini / iPad Budget / iPad Air / iPad Pro.
The Budget iPad should keep the Home Button, add Pencil 2 support and start at $199.99.
None should ship with less than 128GB.

 

[HMWausau]

What's with yet another keyboard config as well?? Stupid as well. You can't use the magic keyboard. If you buy this one and want to upgrade to the pro in the future, the keyboard isn't compatible. (because the charging pins are in a different location)

This iPad is a bastard child that seemingly takes the worst of everything and combined it into an iPad that has disadvantages for just about everyone in one way or another.

Not impressed at all.

If you're on a budget, stick with the 9th gen. Otherwise, skip this and jump to the Air. So much more for not a lot of money.

 

[subjonas]

Education is a key market for the "base" iPad, but I'm surprised that Apple didn't release a cheaper keyboard option. It's $700 with the keyboard.

Yeah doesn't seem to be priced very competitively. But then Apple still sells the previous base iPad and keyboard at USD$490 total. So maybe it’s an upsell.

 

[bluecoast]

Many will likely be used in schools and offices under bright fluorescent lighting.

Good point, but I guess the 9th gen isn't laminated and the entry level iPad for the last few years has very much been marketed at education.

I'm not defending Apple here - I'm just trying to say that this iPad will be perfectly fine for most people.

But tbh - I think that the ideal customer for the iPad 10th gen, will buy the 9th gen instead.

I.e. we'll have a similar situation to the iPhone 14 (where people are buying the now discounted 13 instead).

I suspect also that the 10th gen iPad will eventually get the laminated display and replace the Air (whose existence is starting to look puzzling apart from the M1 in it).

 

[_Spinn_]

Seems like Apple iterated the design while subtracting from the actual hardware.

 

[KPOM]

Seems like Apple iterated the design while subtracting from the actual hardware.

Not compared to the 9th generation. The 10th is in between the 9th and the Air.

 

[I7guy]

My 7th gen doesn’t have anti-reflective coating and honestly, I don’t care.

 

[I7guy]

Apple is going completely against what Steve Jobs stood for. Steve Jobs always wanted simple product and didn’t want people to earn Doctorate degree in researching various nuances between 2 products and compare them to previous year’s products mumbo jumbo blah blah!

Steve Jobs is dead and the world has moved on.

 

[I7guy]

I think we are now seeing the product of what work from home has done to apple hardware, software, and marketing m/sales.. some head scratching on some of the execution as of late

What? Record revenues? People figure stuff out.

 

[MacAddict1978]

If you believe that this iPad is largely intended for the education market, it makes sense that it cuts cost wherever possible—the cheaper display and the lack of Pencil 2 wireless charging support (yes, it has a price hike, but that’s another can of worms). Also the new landscape camera only being on this iPad makes me think it, being used for education, is used more for video calls than other iPads. Not to say it won’t come to other iPads, but it was possibly more urgent for this one.

I don’t know how much cost making the display compatible would be, but the magnetic charging is a couple of bucks!! Most of the cost is in the pencil, not the iPad…an accessory that costs $100 and probably costs $5-$10 to make (it’s one of apples highest margin products).

They absolutely could have supported Apple Pencil 2 without really incurring a whole lot of extra cost in my opinion.

If you’re going to do something, this stupid come out with a new version of the first GEN Apple Pencil with a USB-C port on the ends

 

[Novius89]

ooh i feel i am not up to date with all the ipads i realize after some corrections from fellow members.

I have an ipad since 2018 but i always thought it was useless for me, so my girlfriend played a ton of "games" on it. Farmville etc.
I just started to use the ipad for my new study, and damn it is a fine handy companion for my macbook or separate with the pencil.

As it goes with these things, i use it more and more indoor now as well for media consumption.
So even after having at at home for almost 4 years i am just discovering and using this thing.

I didn't know that wireless charging was the only option for the pencil 2.... support for both pencil is not an option in that case.

I still think apple makes a mess of all their products lineup.

I miss the times with only 1 model of phone.
Now the argument is that they can sell in every segment, but the prices are up there even for people that want to buy just "normal" stuff.

The ipad 6th gen that we have at home was €340 new if i am correct. I remember i bought it for 200 (with a gift card) 4 months after launch.
Can you imagine buying the newest (regular) ipad for €300 4 years ago....

This regular ipad is €589......

Edit: this is for the phone section, but i just had a brain fart.

Make the Pro phone line the only main line with 2 sizes.
Skip de ridiculous SE line (or keep it and name it the mini line). Who the hell wants an iphone with the looks of the 8 (or Xr, following the rumors).
And replace the SE line with the regular in normal or plus size (damn it make it three sizes and include the mini size for me).

Do the same for the ipads, what the hell is the air about? Or the mini?
Just make a pro and normal.

Macbooks the same. Air and pro 13 inch and then you got 2 powerhouse pro's.
Air and pro 2022 are also different with their looks this year...

I absolutely love hardware and apple and their stuff and how it works, but make it simple again.

 

[sracer]

I have an older relative on a tight budget who has desperately been in need of replacing her older iPad. I've been telling her for a couple of months to hold-off on buying a replacement, since this October release was expected.

I was hoping this 10th gen iPad would be the same price-point as the 9th gen. Like many her age, she has not moved to bluetooth headphones and is fine with wired buds. I figured I could talk her into springing for 2nd gen AirPods, when they are on sale for $99, if the 10th gen removed the headphone jack.

Welp, no. The price increase and loss of the headphone jack make it prohibitively expensive for her, on what used to be the low cost, entry-level iPad. She'll be going with the 9th gen iPad which has been on sale at Amazon for $269 and she won't have the headphone issue. Only Apple knows if their margins are better in losing out on a customer buying the 10th gen (at a lower price point) and AirPods together, over someone just picking up the discounted 9th gen, but that's the scenario they created in this case.

On another note with the price increase, I think the 10th gen should have started with 128Gb of storage. 🤷‍♂️

There was absolutely no way that the 10th gen iPad would retain the price of the 9th gen but with the new Air form-factor. That was just wishful thinking.

The 9th gen iPad is a great option for that older relative. As for why you would push AirPods on her is a mystery to me. Added expense and added complexity for no benefit for her uses.

 

[dampfnudel]

Price compare? Is new iPad more expensive or the same price thus you would expect the same or better features? It also lacks the m1, who knew?

Most people were expecting or maybe I should say now hoping that the iPad 10 was a replacement for the iPad 9 at the same price or close to it. What we got instead was the new Apple where any value goes out the door if Tim feels now is the opportunity to give consumers the “new normal” or whatever you want to call it. Unless the expectation by Apple is third party retailers will discount the price anyway so let’s make the original price overinflated so the discounted price is still what we can accept?